Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

Velociraptor!
Kasabian?

So by now just about every music journalist (spit) and brainless blogger (yawn) has written a handful of words about Kasabian's new LP. And they've probably punctuated their review with a quantitive amount of stars or flys or bleedin' smiley faces just for inane good measure. But everything that everyone else has written so far has been bollocks because all you need to know about Velociraptor! - with an exclamation mark! - most importantly with a exclamation mark! Is right HERE!

All the bods that have filled their reviews with comparisons to other bands have been completely barking up the wrong sodding tree. Radiohead? Fuck Off! Velociraptor! is 100% Kasabian. Track 1 "Let's Roll Just Like We Used To" starts with the banging of a gong and trumpet fanfare. All the great composers used to start there stuff like this; with a cacophony of noise. Mozart, even Jimi Hendrix's house mate Handel used to do it. It's designed to wake up and shut up the punters. Make them believe something epic is about to happen. But this isn't Mozart or Handel this is Kasabian.

Up next is the single "Days Are Forgotten" which from the oscillating, fluctuating intro of ahhh ahaaa ahaaa. To the guitar solo outro; played on the mouth of Serge P. "Days Are Forgotten" can be no one else. This is Kasabian.

Then comes "Goodbye Kiss", a bit of fine balladeering. The sort of sweeping epic emotive stuff the Manic Street Preachers have been bashing out for years. But this isn't the Manics this is Kasabian.

"La Fee Verte", the spaced intro aside, sounds like Strawberry Fields version 11.01 or Glass Onion Part IV. Serge sings "I met Dali in the street. He knocked me off my feet". I met the Moog in the street once; you know the DOG from Willo the Wisp. Damn those mushrooms.

Lennon is being sold by just about every conduit in town nowadays. "The Green Fairy" can be added to the list. But this isn't Oasis or Beady Eye this is Kasabian.

Velociraptor! next, with its all important exclamation mark. This is as close as Kasabian have ever been to the Kaiser Chiefs neck of the parish. And for that reason this track must be immediately shoved into the Worzels set. Lyrical adjustments will be needed. Something like: "I've lost my Tractor, I just can't find, I just can't see it, I just don't know where it be…………….I've lost my! I've lost my! I've lost my TRACTOR!" Let it be so. But this isn't the Kaiser Chiefs or the Worzels this is Kasabian!

"Acid Turkish Bath" has Bunnymen-like eastern strings, "I Hear Voices" plinks and plonks like most of Depeche Mode and the final track on the LP "Neon Moon" is like "Velvet Morning" by The Verve meets Oxygene by Jean Michel Jarre. But this isn't Echo or Mode or Jarre or Ashcroft, this is Kasabian.

Many years ago between "Empire" and "West Ryder" I found myself standing in the Civic Hall Wolverhampton long after Tom Meighan had tossed his tambourine into the crowd, wondering just what Kasabian were for. Yes they had the Oasis/Stone Roses/Dance Thing going on, but what other than that? With "West Ryder" and Velociraptor! Kasabian have shown what they're about. The Manics last album was bland bland bland, Radiohead's "Trees" was obtuse obtuse obtuse; Oasis are no more and the Kaiser's seemed derailed. This is Kasabian's moment. This is Kasabian's time. The field of battle has been swept clean. The revolution is over. The fulcrum has turned. The world has been stood on its head. Now is the time, to sound Kasabian-esque!

"Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal" PP

PS: For those who need to know. Velociraptor! is about the loss of childhood, the loss of love, reflections, introspections, remembrances, comic book glimpses and drug induced imaginings. It's a damn fine read; pictures are good too. I'd only change one thing: swap "Switchblade Smile" for "Pistols At Dawn" it flows better. Yep, now its perfect.